October 15, 2018
Today was our travel day.
We flew from Malaga, Spain across the
Rock of Gibralter
and then said goodbye to Europe as we flew over Africa.
Located off the west coast of Africa are the Canary Islands.
Our first stop for 4 days is the largest and most populated island of the 7 Canary Islands. It is also the most populated island of Spain...Tenerife.
With guaranteed sunshine all year round and a family friendly safe environment, Tenerife is loaded with resort areas. And as the brochure says, "Tenerife has a multitude of 4 and 5 star hotels for active singles and more mature tourists".
Here's what it looked like flying over the resorts into Tenerife. Ugg! That's not for us.
Below is just one beach.
So we selected Hotel and Spa Villalba located in the high hills of Tenerife, far away from the downtown tourist areas.
Our cab drove us a mere 45 minutes to Vilaflor which is the highest village on the island. For the next 4 days, the Hotel and Spa Villalba will be our home. What a tranquil and peaceful setting!
October 16, 2018...El Tiede!
Today we decided to see the formidable sentry of the island, El Teide, which is not only the highest mountain in the Canary Islands, but it is also the highest mountain in all of Spain.
El Tiede is 12,198 feet high! It was a highlight of our trip to Tenerife. El Teide is located in the Parque Nacional del Teide which covers 202 square feet and encompasses the volcano and the surrounding land. The National Park of Teide is both a Unesco World Heritage site and Spain's most popular national park, attracting 4 million visitors a year! El Teide dominates the northern end of the park. If you don't want to make the tough, 5 hour (one way) steep hike up, there is a cable car available to take you both up and down. But if it is too windy, the cable car won't go, much to the disdain of the disappointed tourists.
We were very lucky. It was a beautiful day above the clouds of El Teide.
Even the moon was out as we walked across the "lunar landscape".
Whew! It is beautiful above the clouds on
El Tiede which is 12,198 feet!
It was an outstanding hike and view! What a mountain and what a day!
October 17th... the Paisaje Lunar
We started our hike today with this sign at the trailhead. Yup, the ONLY day in October that is open for everyone to hunt was TODAY! We decided we'd be ok where we were going.
It was a beautiful day for a hike!
We started out on a broad path to a narrow one through the pine tree forests up towards the Guajara mountain.
Canarian pine were our traveling companions on this hike.
These pine are an evolutionary marvel for the bark is nearly fire resistant. In a fire, even though the pine will lose its needles, pine cones and branches in a fire,
it has the ability to regenerate new growth from the charred wood.
Mature Canarian pines are 98 feet high!
Below, you can see that the pine trees are regenerating new growth from the charred areas. It was an extraordinary scene.
We hiked upwards
across the volcanic soil
across the volcanic soil
until we arrived at the Paisaje Lunar (the "Lunar Landscape"). It is nestled within the pine trees and made a spectacular sight with the green pines against the blue sky.
These ancient volcanic shapes are now white tufted pillars sanded down by the elements throughout the centuries.
These ancient volcanic shapes are now white tufted pillars sanded down by the elements throughout the centuries.
Coming down the trail
we arrived at a viewpoint where it was so clear, we could see the ocean and the coast line of Tenerife.
The scenery continued to be spectacular as we continued on our way.
We hiked along stone walls
and passed abandoned stone houses
until we could see our destination of Vilaflora below.
On our way down,
we passed farms of irrigated Canary potato crops.
Getting closer to Vilaflor.
Once down, we explored the bustling town of Vilaflor.
We hiked the steep road back up to the lovely Villalba. While a long, hot hike on some steep terrain, it was a wonderful hike.
October 18th...Spa day!
Today was another beautiful day and we spent it luxuriating in the pool and spa at our lovely Villalba Hotel and Spa. Ahh, life is good!
We packed up and got ready to leave early the next morning. We'll say good-bye to Tenerife as we catch the ferry to our next Canary Island, La Gomera for more hiking adventures.